Ex-Justice secretary Gonzalez questions Arroyo's arrest

Former Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary Raul Gonzalez on Sunday accused the Pasay City Regional Trial Court of abuse of power for ordering the arrest of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In an interview on GMA News' Balitanghali, Gonzalez – an Arroyo ally – said the accused was not given a chance to witness the raffle of the electoral sabotage case. Also, he said Pasay City RTC Branch 112 Judge Jesus Mupas violated the five-day rule in determining "probable cause."
“The judge, if he has probity enough, if he is fair and unbiased, he can suspend or recall the [arrest] warrant and use the rule... Under the rules of criminal procedure, after he receives information from the fiscal, he will at least have five days to determine probable cause," said Gonzalez. According to him, Mrs. Arroyo's case is different from that of former President Joseph Estrada, who was charged with plunder, and that the latter was asked to appear at Senate hearings. “There were... voluminous sets of documents against him because of the Senate probe. [Pero] Ito [Mrs. Arroyo's electoral sabotage case], walang hearing sa Senate," he said. Gonzalez expressed disappointment with the present administration, saying that during the martial rule of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos, the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., the incumbent president's father, was allowed to leave the country to have a heart bypass operation, even if he was convicted of murder and subversion. “It was not Ninoy who went to beg Marcos for it. Marcos wanted him to leave," he said. In a separate interview, University of the East College of Law Dean Amado Valdez said Mrs. Arroyo may be allowed to go out of the country despite the charges against her, adding that what is important is that a case has been filed against her. “It's consent of the court ang nakataya diyan. ‘Yung court, kapag may aberya sa pagpapalabas kay Gng. Arroyo... it’s the responsibility of the court to bring her back," he said. "Naging mabilis ng kaunti sapagkat aalis na si Gloria Arroyo... [pero] kailangan din you have to ensure the enforcement of judicial processes," Valdez said. Should Mrs. Arroyo be allowed to leave the country, there would be a trial in absentia. It would be the justice’s responsibility to make her return. Meanwhile, Gonzalez assured the public that the former chief executive, if allowed to leave the country to seek medical treatment, would go back to face the court cases against her. Both Valdez and Gonzalez agree that Mrs. Arroyo's camp should question the jurisdiction of the Pasay TRC because Arroyo, an incumbent House representative, is a public official. Members of the joint DOJ-Commission on Elections panel that probe the alleged involvement of the former president in the supposed cheating in the 2007 polls belied claims they rushed the filing of the electoral sabotage case against Arroyo. They said it has been months since the joint panel began hearing the electoral fraud charges against the former President. — Amanda Fernandez /LBG, GMA News